Suicide and pesticide in Nigeria

The Nigerian media is recently filled with suicide stories.  It is not as if suicide is a strange phenomenon in Nigeria, but the rate it occurs, the ages of the victims and the use of pesticides as a suicide tool should make any nation uncomfortable. The incidence of suicidal attempts and actual suicide cases in Nigeria has gone up as the Nigerian media is flooded with such stories. There are may also be likely many unreported cases of the horrible incidents by the media. Mostly affected here are the youth, the so called leaders of tomorrow who take their own lives because of mundane reasons. These reasons range from bad performance in their academic quest, sour romantic relationships and at times inexplicable reasons.

Pesticide is not the only tool being used for suicide; as there are other drowning, hanging, setting themselves ablaze, etc.  The trend of converting pesticides into a suicide tool can be upturned and halted with the substance   used for what it is actually meant for, whichis to kill pests.

One of the ways suicide through pesticide can be reversed is identification of marketers of pesticide by the regulatory authorities.  This can be done by issuing permit or licence as pesticide is a poison that requires handlers to be issued a licence by the appropriate authorities. With the permit or license, the marketers will not only form the database of the regulatory authorities for easy tracking but they will be conscious of the ethical and safety practices as well as consequences of flouting the provisions of the permit. The failure to licence the handlers of pesticides in Nigeria has largely increased its accessibility to both legitimate users and those that intend to use it for ulterior motives. It also results in lack of effective monitoring of the movement, distribution and marketing of the substance.

• Nigerian farmers to get cowpea resistant to pest attacks this year ―Gidado

There is a serious need for the regulatory authorities to be proactive. There should be a strict enforcement and compliance order on the technically safe handling of pesticides. Observations have revealed that untrained people hawk pesticides even close to the regulatory authorities’ offices in some states capitals in Nigeria.  Disgusting is the display of pesticides in major pharmacies along with human medicines and fast foods. Pesticides are even hawked with beverages. Many traders that market pesticides are not traceable because they don’t belong to any professional bodies which can be keep them abreast of safety in the industry. These are having field day in our markets without hindrance by government. The implication of this is unimpeded access to poison by anyone with attendant repercussion. NAFDAC can replicate same stringent enforcement measures  it unleashed against the distribution of Tramadol, Codeine and other restricted pharmaceutical products.

Learning, they say, is a continuous process. Agricultural input dealers that mostly sell to the end-users (farmers) should be trained and retrained to handle and market the poisonous substance safely.

Pesticide is not the only substance being wrongly used for sucide as victims take own lives by other mean. We can only implore Nigerians, particularly the youth to face life with courage and hope. There should be comprehensive package of public enlightenment that is capable of changing Nigerians’ perception of depression by the relevant government agencies, religious organizations and communities.

Gbade Agunbiade,

Oyo State